Saturday's 45-20 Guinness Premiership final triumph over Leicester not only ended Sharks' 145-year wait for major silverware, it was also a fitting reward for Kennedy's often controversial six-year tenure at the club.
The move from Sale's cramped Heywood Road base to Stockport's Edgeley Park ground allied to the appointment of Frenchman Philippe Saint-Andre as coach in 2004 attracted widespread criticism at the time.
And as far as Kennedy is concerned, Saturday's demolition job on the former giants of English rugby was the perfect riposte to those doubters.
"Does it feel like personal vindication?
"Yes it does," Kennedy declared.
"There were many people, old purists in the north west and across the wider rugby community who had no faith in Philippe.
"But I knew what he had done when he was in charge at Gloucester and Bourgoin. I believe it was external forces that stopped him from completing these jobs and I always had a great admiration for his ability to put together a winning team very, very quickly.
"Our original coaches Jim Mallinder and Steve Diamond did a fantastic job in taking us on to the next level. They laid a great foundation but I recognised that in order to get us up to being the top side in England and possibly Europe we needed a different type of coach with possibly more experience at the highest level.
"I believed in Philippe but, unbelievably, the community was very much against it because I suppose the traditionalists don't like change.
Payback
"To me there is no difference between an Englishman or a Frenchman or a Scotsman so I had no issue bringing in Philippe so it is a vindication of making that managerial move and for Philippe himself. He's answered his critics in the best way possible through results."
Financially too, victory represented a form of pay-back for Kennedy's six-year investment into the club which to date he puts at é9m.
"It's é14m if you include the money that's gone into Stockport County and the Edgeley Park ground," he added.
Now he wants that financial acumen to help build a dynasty that can rival that of Leicester, Wasps and Bath.
"It's an accumulation not just of that financial investment but a tremendous amount of hard work and energy put in by players, coaches and staff, so it's pay-back for them," Kennedy added.
"We should make a small profit this past year by virtue of the play-offs which is great news. Without the play-offs we would have made a loss.
"Next year we'll be looking to make a reasonable profit between half a million and three-quarters of a million.
"Now we'll be looking to build a brand as the champions of England and hopefully we can follow in the footsteps of Bath, Leicester and Wasps.
"In terms of development, we've looked at the logistics of Edgeley Park. Our immediate target is to sell 8,000 season tickets.
"The minute we sell 8,000 season tickets then that virtually guarantees sell-outs and at that point we'll put plans together to expand Edgeley Park to say a 12,000 or 13,000-capacity stadium."
The only potential cloud on the horizon concerns the long-term future of Saint-Andre. France coach Bernard Laporte last week announced he is to step down after the 2007 World Cup and Saint-Andre is sure to be a leading contender for the post.
However, Kennedy insisted: "Philippe is very settled here in Manchester and so are his wife and family. As far as I'm concerned, he's going to be with us for a long, long time within our organization.
"He may move forward in the next few years to other commercial areas but I have no intention of letting Philippe even think about going to France.
"If he wants to raise it with me or if France happen to approach us then so be it, but I'll do everything in my power to keep Philippe here."
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